Selene was ready downstairs with umbrellas, my briefcase, and her ever-present clipboard. “This will probably be a little shorter than we planned since the weather isn’t cooperating.”
“Do we have food scheduled for the event? We’ll need to give the visitors and staff something to do inside.” I thought about it for a moment. “We don’t want them to feel slighted by not staying long enough.”
“True. We had light breakfast fare planned, but I will call and see if we get something a little more substantial. We’ll also need to adjust the photo ops.” Selene pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was one of the few pieces of electronics that she had adjusted to using.
“Let me know if I can do anything to help.” I whispered the words quietly. She nodded her head as she rapidly spoke Lilarian into the phone.
I pulled out my phone and checked the weather before sending a text to Chadwick. I figured he would be present for the event since Sam would want a firsthand account even if she was on her honeymoon.
Me:
Is there room inside for everyone today?
Chadwick:
David has moved some birds inside and is going to do a demonstration to amuse people so we’re not walking through the rain to tour.
My heart thudded in my chest. I was going to see him much sooner than I had thought.
Me:
David will be there?
Chadwick:
Yes.
I didn’t say anything in response. I hadn’t expected to see David today. Would that be awkward? I looked down at the skirt, sweater, and jacket I had chosen to wear. Cute but efficient. I took a deep breath.
Chadwick:
Why? ;)
Me:
Will be nice to have help. And wink at yourself.
Chadwick:
Just saying that if he played for my team, Daniel would need to be worried.
Me:
LOL
I turned the screen off and looked at Selene. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She opened an umbrella and stepped out the door. She rubbed her chest with her free hand before motioning for me to follow her out. Her face looked tight, but I knew she developed heartburn from time to time, so I didn’t think much of it. I kept my head under cover so that my hair wouldn’t look like a mess when I arrived. There wouldn’t be time to prep once there; I’d jump straight into my diplomatic role. Shaking hands, smiling for photos, and making small talk. It should be fun.
The sanctuary was in a town near Rousseau and about an hour drive from D’Lynsal. Which meant I had some time to look over other information. The building was on an old farm that had been donated by a family with a love for birds. It would mostly cater to animals that would not be able to be reintroduced to the wild, and in time would be used as an educational tool. Growing up with two older brothers had left me with a fondness for the outdoors, even though I was just as happy in an evening gown.
I scrolled through the website, checked out the resident birds, the people running the business, and the footnotes about people who had helped design the habitats. Turned out Dr. David Rhodes had his hands on a lot of projects. There was even a page with his credentials and a paragraph detailing why he had chosen to work with raptors.
It felt a bit like cheating to read the information, but then again, I knew he could just as likely pull up stuff about me on the Internet. And hadn’t he confessed to asking questions about me? Only Sam was gone so I couldn’t bug her for information. I could ask Jess, but that would lead to more questions from her and I’d never get away without divulging what had happened the other night.
By the time we pulled up to the farm, I had found out that David was the oldest son of a family from southern Georgia in the United States and that he was also the first in his family to attend college. Like a super spy I had found his pages on social media—even though they were mostly bare—and seen pictures of his family. It looked like his youngest sister might have a disability, but there was no way of telling for sure from just the picture. His other sister was in college and it looked like she was very studious. That didn’t surprise me in the least. David radiated book smarts. It was in little things, like the way he chose his words carefully, or the manner in which he said certain words. He took pride in his education and I couldn’t fault him for that.
The photographers were outside, even in the rain, waiting to catch a shot of us as we unloaded from the car. It was a mess outside and I was glad I’d chosen to wear my boots even if we were going to be inside.
The building was adorable and practically screamed Sam. Very rustic, but with sophistication in the details that let you know the animals would be well taken care of by the people inside. David was standing on the porch, looking extremely uncomfortable as people snapped his picture in his first official FBT production. He was wearing his standard plaid shirt and jeans, and work boots.
There was something extremely sexy in the combination, though I wasn’t sure it was an appropriate outfit for this event. Hell, who really cared?
“Welcome to Victory Hall.” David stepped forward to shake my hand, which meant I had to leave the safety of my umbrella. I squeezed his fingers tightly so that he knew he wasn’t alone in this fiasco.
“When I said I wanted a date, I didn’t think it would be with the entire contingent of the country’s press,” David leaned forward and whispered in my ear.
My heart fluttered at the mention of our date but my laugh was halfhearted. If he only knew, that was exactly what he had done when he asked me to the movies.
He gently took my arm and led me inside while Chadwick ushered the press in. The volume in the room increased tenfold as everyone took up an empty spot and divested themselves of their wet coats.
There were several workers inside and one of them hushed us so that we wouldn’t scare the birds. It amused me to see the photographers immediately start whispering as the older woman stared them down. A table for refreshments was set up in the welcoming room, but David didn’t stop, instead leading us all back where there was a room that would obviously be used for presentations. David motioned for me to take a seat at the front of the room, which I did, careful to make sure no one could see up my skirt. It was long, but you never knew what kind of angles pictures would be taken from. I’d seen photographers slide across a room on their back to try and capture that one-of-a-kind shot of something.
“Welcome to Victory Hall. We’re all very glad to have you here.” David smiled around the room. “Please forgive my need to speak in English. Despite the programs I bought, my mastery of Lilarian is still an embarrassment.”
The room smiled and chuckled, which seemed to ease some of the tension in David’s shoulders.
“As some of you might have heard, the Duchess of Rousseau was married this past weekend, which means I’ve been called in to help run Victory while she is away.” There were twitters from some of the people at the thought that someone might have missed the royal wedding. “This means that instead of seeing her smiling face, you’re going to have to listen to me blather on. Luckily, the lovely Princess Catherine has come to make sure I don’t make a complete fool of myself.”
“No promises!” I mock-whispered, and the group of people laughed.
David’s shoulders slumped. “Well, folks, in that case, I apologize ahead of time.”
I smiled, trying to not laugh. He was much better at working a room than I would have thought.
“Victory Hall was established as a place to bring injured animals for rehabilitation. However, it was also the Duchess Samantha’s—”
“Princess!” one of the reporters interrupted.
“Er, yes. It was also Princess Samantha’s plan to use this facility as a means of education. Schools will be able to travel here to learn more about our feathered friends, while also learning how to make sure they don’t end up needing our help.”
He walked over to a stand where a large owl sat on a fake tree, and picked up his gloves. With careful movements he lifted the bird to his arm and turned slowly so that the audience could get a good look.
“This is Sax, a Eurasian eagle owl, and I’m not ashamed to tell you, he’s the largest owl I’ve ever worked with. Sax here is heavier than a great horned owl from the States and has a larger wingspan. The female eagle owls can weigh anywhere from four to nine pounds, and let me tell you, that is one heavy bird. Sax here weighs a nice four pounds and that’s partly because he has a steady diet here at Victory.”
Gently he coaxed Sax to open one of his wings and I watched with sad eyes. I might not have a degree in ornithology like Sam and Alex, but I could tell there was something terribly wrong.
“Sax was shot by a hunter who didn’t want him on his land.” David looked at the owl quietly. “The saddest part is that Sax was only doing what he’s meant to do. Now he will never be able to fly again.”
Carefully he replaced Sax on his perch and looked out at the audience. “That’s what Victory Hall is trying to correct. Misinformation is killing these animals. We hope that with more education and hands-on learning experiences we will be able to teach our children why these creatures are so important. We’re also hoping that if a farmer has trouble with a problematic bird, they can come to us and we can find a better solution.”
“There are farmers still poisoning many raptors,” I spoke up. “Some of them don’t know how much harm they are causing, while others don’t care. Organizations like the FBT and their subsidiary groups like Victory Hall play a vital role in the defense of these creatures.” There were some murmurs from the people seated near me.
“Princess Catherine is correct.” David smiled at me and my heart did a little flip. “Why don’t you come help me introduce our next guest?”
I could only hope that I wasn’t smiling like an idiot, because I felt like a bubbly girl on the inside. Even though I knew there was probably a script for today, I didn’t care.
“Of course.” I may have unintentionally added a little more wiggle to my walk than normal and had to tone it down as I climbed the stairs to the platform. “What do you have?”
“Let’s get you a glove.” He leaned close as he helped me slide my hand into the leather protection. “Wouldn’t want anything to hurt your pretty skin.” His voice was low, but I couldn’t help the blush that spread up my cheeks as I heard the whir of cameras.
“I didn’t realize you were such a flirt.” I whispered back.
“I practiced in the mirror last night.” He winked at me before turning back to the audience.
“Tina, can you bring me Loki?” David turned and smiled at the woman near the edge of the stage.
“And just what is Loki?” I looked at the giant glove he had fit on my arm. I’d handled birds since I was a child, but that didn’t mean all birds were the same. I secretly prayed that he wasn’t bringing a vulture out for me to hold.
“There’s the fearsome bird.” He motioned to where Tina walked back into the room. She was holding a tiny owl.
“Aw.” I smiled at the itty-bitty thing as he transferred the bird to my wrist.
“This is a little owl,” David explained. When the audience laughed he shot them all a smile. “Really. Apparently the scientist that day wasn’t feeling very inspired, so this guy is literally a little owl.
Athene noctua
.” He said the Latin name with ease.
I looked at the tiny guy on my wrist and couldn’t help the goofy grin that pulled at my cheeks. He was adorable. His little head turned this way and that as he scanned the room and I reached up with my other hand to scratch the top of his head. Just as I got close, his head spun and he nipped. I barely missed losing the tip of my finger to the little beast.
There were gasps in the room that quickly turned to nervous laughs when I tsked at the bird. “That was not very nice, Loki, but I can see where you got your name!”
“Are you okay, Cathy?” David reached for my hand, examining my fingers while the photographers sat up in their seat and snapped pictures.
Not only had he addressed me by my nickname, he had taken my hand in his with a familiarity that people didn’t normally see with me. It wasn’t that I was cold, but I was always careful with how I interacted with men.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t snatch my hand back or make a big deal about any of it. If there was an issue Selene could play it off that we were friends through Sam. Which was exactly the truth. The fact that we had seen each other naked and had plans for a date was no one’s business. Besides, I liked the way worry wrinkled his brow as he checked my fingers. “Really, no blood.”
“I should have warned you.” His jaw tightened. “I’m still learning these birds.”
I could tell what he was thinking, that he shouldn’t be doing this presentation until he was fully ready. Unfortunately that wasn’t how things worked in my world. We were often thrown into situations where we had to “fake it until we made it.”
“Well, goes to show you that I don’t have the proper training for handling these gorgeous creatures.” I smiled at the cameras. “Of course, that doesn’t stop me from admiring their beauty.”
Tina moved onto the stage to take Loki from me and I removed the glove. “Thank you for making sure I was all right, David. A real live knight in shining armor.”
His mouth twitched and I wondered what he was deciding not to say. I found myself intrigued just as much by what he left unsaid as by what he decided was worth saying.
“S
O
,
THAT WAS
weird.” David sat at a table with his feet propped up.
“Really?” I shook my head. “That was pretty tame.”
“All of those people with the billion questions and pictures were a tame version of what you normally deal with?” David raised an eyebrow before scratching his chin. “I’ve faced down a brown bear and didn’t sweat as much as I did today.”
Chadwick snorted. “It’s a totally different beast.”
“Nice.” I lifted my water bottle to toast his pun.
“I am learning that.” David let out a rush of air. “I’m still surprised Sam asked me to do this. I might know birds, but you need to know even more about people, and that is a knowledge I seriously lack.”